On February 3, 2017, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) of the European Parliament (EP) has adopted the 2016 Commission Report on Albania, drafted by MEP Knut Fleckenstein. As Exit reported previously, Fleckenstein’s initial draft didn’t explicitly include the “five key priorities.”
But the final report approved by AFET, and which will be voted in the next plenary session of the EP, is explicit about Albania’s priorities:
[The EP] [w]elcomes Albania’s continuous progress on EU-related reforms, in particular the consensual adoption in July 2016 of constitutional amendments paving the way for a deep and comprehensive judicial reform; stresses that not only consistent adoption but also full and timely implementation of reforms on all five key priorities and sustained political commitment are essential in order to further advance the EU accession process; encourages Albania to establish a solid track record with regard to such reforms;
From these five “essential” key priorities, it appears that judicial reform, the fight against organized crime, and the fight against corruption have now become hard conditions for the opening of EU accession negotiations. This appears to be a compromise between the German demand that all five key priorities were hard conditions, and the position of the European Commission, which only emphasized the judicial reform.
Furthermore the report comments on a large number of current issues in Albania: widespread organized crime and corruption, electoral reform, decriminalization, freedom of the media, the environment and hydropower plants, and the recognition of the Bulgarian minority.
Organized crime and corruption
Besides the implementation of the judicial reform, the report is also explicit about the fight against organized crime and corruption, as hard conditions for the opening of accession negotiations. There are two areas of reform on which the EU Delegation (EUD) in Tirana has so far remained completely silent:
[The EP] [w]elcomes the Commission’s recommendation for opening accession negotiations with Albania; fully supports Albania’s accession to the EU, and calls for the accession negotiations to be opened as soon as there is credible and sustainable progress in the implementation of comprehensive judicial reform and the fight against organised crime and corruption, in order to keep the reform momentum;
In contrast with the EUD, the EP also explicitly mentions that “police and prosecutors fail to identify the criminal networks behind drug cultivation.” It is also concerned about the “excessively large prison population and […] the maltreatment of suspects at police stations.”
The EP also expresses its concern about the high levels of corruption in the government:
[The EP] continues to be concerned, however, that corruption remains high and prevalent in many areas and continues to pose a serious problem, eroding people’s trust in public institutions; is concerned that key anti-corruption institutions continue to be subject to political interference and have limited administrative capacities; notes that poor interinstitutional cooperation and exchange of information continue to hamper proactive investigation and the effective prosecution of corruption;
Electoral reform, decriminalization, and freedom of the media
Moreover, the report calls for upon the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform to “finalise swiftly” the electoral reform, fully implementing the OSCE-ODIHR recommendations, as well as a full implementation and respect for “the spirit and the letter” of the decrimininalization law. We assume that some ministers in the Rama government would do well to take this to heart.
As regards the freedom of the media, the European Parliament “regrets” the current situation of political influence and censorship:
[The EP] [r]egrets that limited progress was made in the area of freedom of the media last year; reiterates the critical importance of professional and independent private and public service media; is concerned about political influence in the media and widespread self-censorship among journalists;
Environment and hydropower plants
The EP stresses the need to “improve the quality of environmental impact assessments, as well as to guarantee public participation and consultation of civil society in relevant projects.” As Exit has frequently reported, much is to be improved here; the recent Tirana 2030 Masterplan was rushed through the municipality with only the suggestion of public discussion.
Moreover, the EP takes a stance against the construction of hydropower plants in the Vjosa, and states that “the environmental impact of hydropower plants is often not properly assessed to ensure compliance with international standards and relevant EU nature legislation.”
Recognition of Bulgarian minority
A more unexpected comment is the recommendation to legally recognize “the rights of people with Bulgarian ethnicity in the Prespa, Golo Brdo and Gora regions.” In a press release by Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev, he emphasized that “respect for the rights of minority communities is one of the most important criteria that candidate countries must fulfill in order to join the EU.” Contacted by Exit for further comment, Blagoy Klimov from the office of MEP Kovatchev explained:
We normally tend to avoid including bilateral issues in the progress reports, but this one was of crucial importance. The Bulgarian minority in Prespa, Golo Brdo and Gora is the only non-recognised historic minority in Albania. This is one of the most endangered communities in Albania, since this community of around 50,000 lives dispersed in three non-adjacent areas, belong to two different religions – Muslim and Orthodox – and is the only historic minority that has not been officially recognised even with ethno-linguistic status.
All in all, the EP shows itself much more critical toward the Albanian government than the initial draft of MEP Fleckenstein suggested. Hopefully, the EU Delegation in Tirana will take the hint and have a more proactive and critical stance toward the Albanian government.
